During Trump’s June campaign launch, the billionaire real-estate mogul said some Mexican immigrants crossing the borders are drug smuggling “rapists” and “killers.”

The statements forced advertisers to drop the program, leaving NBC and Univision to cancel plans to air the broadcast. The Reelz channel stepped in with new hosts five days before the competition.

“A lot of girls were upset. We were very disappointed, we were confused we didn’t know what was going to happen,” George said of the competitors upon learning of NBC’s departure from the pageant.

While the comments from Trump kept the competition a wider viewing audience, George said the current GOP frontrunner “is absolutely entitled to his opinion.”

“As someone going for the presidency, he is allowed to talk about his foreign policy, he is allowed to talk about immigration,” she said. “Now, do I think he should have rephrased it, maybe said something a little bit different? Absolutely because it’s hurt a lot of people along the way.”

Calling Trump’s rise in the polls after the immigration comments “interesting,” George said that his candidacy is both “polarizing” and a “breath of fresh air.”

“He says exactly what he thinks and sometimes in politics you don’t always see that,” she said.

Still, she said that it would have been better had Trump bit his tongue.

“I wish he hadn’t said it, because it would have been a better experience for the 51 contestants. Unfortunately he did and that is what we were faced with,” she said.

Hear what else George had to say about Trump and his recent comments in the interview below.

Nick Storm

Nick Storm is the Anchor and Managing Editor of Pure Politics available exclusively on Spectrum News. Pure Politics is the only nightly program dedicated to Kentucky politics. Nick covers all of the political heavyweights and his investigative work brings to light issues that might otherwise go unnoticed, like his coverage of the backlog of DNA rape kits waiting to be tested in Kentucky. Nick is also working on a feature length bio documentary Outlaw Poet: A documentary on Ron Whitehead. Pure Politics airs weeknight at 7 and 11:30 on Spectrum News. Follow Nick on Twitter @NStorm_Politics. Nick can be reached at 502-792-1107 or nicholas.storm@charter.com.